How To Care For Your Kabode Bedding

So you’ve bought Kabode bedding for your child, awesome! We hope they love it and sleep comfortably in it for years to come.

When you get your bedding it will be packaged in our recycled and recyclable card packaging. Please pop this in your recycling bin, or use it for arts and crafts or to make a grand castle for your hamster.

The bedding itself is made of organic materials, and is not treated with any toxic or harmful chemicals such as bleaching agents, fire retardants or perfumes. All of our bedding is made with care by our Kabode team in China and carefully checked over to ensure that each piece meets our high quality standards.

There’s nothing like sinking into fresh new sheets, we think it’s one of the most luxurious feelings in the world - that ‘aaaaah!’ as your skin meets crisp new cotton and a soft squishy quilt. Unfortunately many High Street sheets lose that feeling once they are washed, as they are pre-treated in the factory to make them feel amazing when you touch them in store, but it doesn’t last.

We don’t treat Kabode bedding like that, the quality of the cotton should stand the test of time wash after wash after wash. But to keep them feeling their very best and to keep the colours vibrant, we would recommend you take the following steps when you change the bed;

Fitted sheets and bedding sets:

• Gentle wash at 40C using a small amount of gentle detergent
• Drying naturally is best - ideally line drying / drying flat
• Tumble drying on low heat is OK
• Avoid ironing if possible, otherwise iron at a low heat

Quilts:

• Gentle wash at 30C using a small amount of gentle detergent
• Drying naturally is best - ideally line drying / drying flat
• Tumble drying on low heat is OK
• Avoid ironing if possible, otherwise iron at a low heat

Duvets and Pillows:

• Gentle wash at 30C on a wool cycle, using a special wool detergent
• Drying naturally is best - ideally line drying / drying flat
• Do not tumble dry
• Regularly plump and air the pillow to help maintain shape

Mattress Protector:

• Gentle wash at 30C using a small amount of gentle detergent
• Drying naturally is best - ideally line drying / drying flat
• Do not tumble dry

Do not:

• We recommend that you don’t bleach or dry clean any Kabode product

By following this care guide you should be able to get the very best from your Kabode bedding, and keep it looking and feeling good as new for years to come. We believe in making and using quality products that last, in order to avoid textile wastage. Poor quality bedding that wears thin, fades and gets holes in uses up precious resources to make and ends up in landfill. By buying and caring for better quality bedding you will need to buy less, and keep it for longer. Making small choices such as this can have a big impact on our environment!

What detergent would you recommend?

You can use any gentle detergent to wash your Kabode bedding, but as we’re keen to protect our planet we’d recommend you choose an eco-friendly option.

The problem with detergents is that when they flush out of your washing machine, they go into the water system. Imagine how many washing machines must be running on any given day, and how much detergent that is pumping into the water.

There are two types of detergent - phosphate and surfactant. Surfactants help the detergent to foam up, while phosphates soften hard water and help to suspend dirt in water.

When detergents get into freshwater environments they are highly toxic and caustic to marine life. They destroy the mucus layer on fish skin, which exists to protect the fish from parasites and bacteria. They also lessen the water surface tension, meaning that the water more easily absorbs environmental pollutants such as pesticides.

Luckily, eco-friendly alternatives are now widely available and will do a brilliant job of keeping your sheets bright and clean!

Ecover is available at most supermarkets. They say they measure aquatic toxicity and ensure that their laundry detergents are not harmful to marine life. They are also suitable for baby skin and are Mumsnet approved, with over 89% of Mumsnet users saying they would recommend them to a friend.

Another option tried and tested by the Kabode team is Fill. Fill’s products are eco friendly and non toxic, made of biodegradable ingredients in their factory in Northamptonshire. They don’t use any single use plastic, with all of their products packaged in stylish reusable glass containers and a closed loop refill system available through health and refill stores.

How to remove stains

Real life with kids gets messy. We love to see Kabode quilts used as playmats, to snuggle under during movie night or to make an awesome den in the garden, but that means that sometimes stains happen.

If your Kabode bedding gets a stain we would recommend soaking it in warm water with your usual detergent, then machine washing as above, and drying on the line in sunshine. It’s amazing what a bit of sunshine can do on a stain (also a great tip for weaning!)